London

Built in early 18th century after the victory over the French and as a reward to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace remains an extraordinary example of rare English Baroque style to these days. The first gardens are said to have been designed in the style of the gardens of Versailles, but in the 1764 the landscape architect Lancelot Brown was instructed to create a new landscape for more than 2,000 acres of parkland surrounding the Palace. The Palace remains to these days inhabited by the Dukes of Marlborough, but it is open to the public as well as the park and the gardens.

The Blenheim Palace is not known only by its beautiful scenery but as a birthplace of Winston Churchill as well. He spent most of his childhood there and later he even proposed his wife in the gardens of the Palace. During the First World War the Palace served as a convalescence hospital and during the Second World War it opened its doors to students from Malvern College. For one academic year the college used the State Rooms of Blenheim Palace as dormitories and classrooms.

Staying in the capital it would definitely be a shame not to visit a place that has so much to tell. And it is only a two-hour drive from London! For a complete experience of the place, you should visit Bampton (known as Downton Abbey Village) and some Cotswold’s beautiful towns such as Bourton-on-the-Water (known as the “Venice of the Cotswolds), Stow-on-the-Wold or Buford. Having doubts which of these towns you should visit, take a note that every one of them is a half an hour drive from the Palace. So, why not visit all of them and let yourself enjoy the view on the green plains between them.